Other One
by BrokenBook
Summary: What if their meeting on the subway wasn't the first time they'd met? Maya only wanted to keep Lucas safe, even if it hurt herself. She never anticipated him turning up at their middle school. Or Riley gaining a crush on him. All she knew was she had to keep their past a secret. Lucaya. — Follows series 1 of GMW — In the process of being edited
1. Prologue

A/N: This fanfiction aims to work alongside the GMW series, I think due to the GMWriters being the amazing people they are that I should keep their quotes in there. However, I also felt people should be able to see a little bit darker side that could possibly come from a Lucaya fanfiction. Without further ado, I give you Other One. . . . . . .

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Other One

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Could you fight for those you love if it meant risking your life? Maya was scared, scared of just how much damage she could do if they ever hurt him. But was it worth hurting him herself? He would always be worth it.

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Prologue

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 _How do you keep a secret from your best friend?_

 _Do you do it willingly? Or sometimes by accident you just happen to not tell her something._

 _Well if this was by accident then it was a big accident and she wasn't sure she'd ever forget something this big. It wasn't a conscious decision to hide something from her best friend, it just sort of happened._

 _Something came into her life that she knew she couldn't tell her about, but at least, it was a good something. Though, Maya supposed that depended on who was looking at it. To Riley, she was probably the worst friend in the world._

 _It was too late to change that._

 _Maya's secret wasn't hers to tell, not to Riley anyway._

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	2. Chapter 1: Meeting The Huckleberry

**01**

Maya figured her first day back at school would be an eventful one. Of course, Riley would never understand just how excited she was to be going to school. She passed Dweezil as she walked to the subway with Riley. He was busking again. Maya didn't know why he did it, but he loved doing it so she couldn't fault him.

"Maya, who's the new chick?" He wasn't any of Riley's business, she couldn't become involved in this. Riley wasn't sure she wanted to know the life Maya led outside her front door. Riley didn't like the subway anyway, so it wasn't like her best friend could help hiding this side of her life. Maya was perfectly content having a separate life from her best friend, not that it was an option for her anyway.

Her expectations of her first day of school were completely different from how it actually happened. _Not now, anytime other than now._ They were there, waiting, watching, out of the corner of her eye, she saw them. She tried to remember a time when they were in New York, but she couldn't. In fact, the only time she'd ever seen them was _there_ , but they couldn't have come for her, could they?

Then she saw him. She wanted to know why _he_ had to take this subway. They wouldn't be here if it wasn't for _him_ , they followed _him_ here. _Stupid, he was so, so stupid._ She caught his eye and glared at him, nodding towards the doors. He waited until the doors had sealed before he smiled at her. They hadn't been followed into the train.

Maya spun around to see her best friend applying lip gloss. Riley didn't do that. "Woah, Riley, you don't do lip gloss."

"Oh! What I forgot to mention is that I'm completely reinventing myself.," Riley began, seemingly proud of herself. "I ride the Subway now, I have kiwi lips now, and I'm just as cool as you now!"

Smiling at the brunette, Maya glanced at the boy over her shoulder again. "Yeah? Let's see how cool you can be when you look at him."

She grabbed Riley's shoulders and turned her to face _him_. She knew her best friend wouldn't be able to resist melting when she saw the cute boy and she figured, stupidly, that Riley wouldn't be okay with talking to a boy at all and thus the fact that _he_ was that boy didn't matter.

He smiled at Riley, and like Maya knew she would, the tall brunette dissolved into a mess of giggles, gripping tightly onto the subway pole just to stay standing.

"Yeah, you're going to need some lessons," Maya told her, smirking. Riley had always been more innocent than Maya, always sticking to the rules and she would never have dared to look at a guy let alone speak to him. Maya, however, had no problems speaking to guys, especially this one. "Let me show you everything you need to know about boys and girls."

Letting go of the pole near Riley, she swung around the one by him and grinned. Their eyes met and Maya forgot everything she was supposed to be showing Riley. His eyes were sad, and Maya could only guess it was because of the way she was acting. She remembered that look from when they were last together.

Maya took a deep breath as she broke out of her trance. She wasn't going to let their secret slip again. Not after everything. "Hi, I'm Maya. You're really cute. We should hang out sometime." She sat down next to him. "You make me happy. You don't pay enough attention to me. This isn't working out. It's you, not me. We can still be friends, not really."

It wasn't what she wanted to say to him at all, she wanted to jump in his arms and tell him how much she'd missed him, but that wouldn't be right. Not with Riley standing only metres away. Instead, she left him with a confused look on his face and sadness in her eyes. He would understand, eventually.

"He's available. We just broke up," she said, shrugging off the fact that she hated it everything she'd just done.

"Are you okay? Do we need to talk about it?" Riley asked her concerned.

"Do you still want to be like me?"

"I want to be exactly like you. I think too much and you don't think at all," She explained. Maya couldn't help feeling offended at her best friend's words, she did think. She wouldn't be there if she didn't think about every little move she made, she'd be in jail or with her father or dead. Riley didn't realise that, and she never would so long as Maya was who she had to be.

"See? You get me, so let's not think." She removed Riley's hands from the bar and let her fall towards _him_. He quickly dropped his book and held her on his lap. Maya could see he was uncomfortable.

"Hi," Riley mumbled as she fell onto his lap. "We were just talking about you. You used to go out with my friend, Maya."

He glanced at the blonde quickly and she smiled, motioning for him to continue. It was his choice how he played this out, but she knew he would understand. "I'm Lucas."

Riley smiled at him. "I love it."

She stood awkwardly to sit down next to him, then a lady walked by them. Evelyn Rand. Maya knew exactly who she was. "Perhaps somebody would like to give up their seat to someone older?" the older lady inquired of the two of them. Lucas immediately began to stand. Evelyn had other plans. "Not you sweet potato pie."

Maya knew she wouldn't be getting to school easily this morning.

"Please don't make me move," Riley pleaded into Evelyn's ear. "I just want to see where this goes."

Lucas risked glaring at Maya briefly whilst Evelyn argued with Riley. She couldn't get him out of this one. She had to let it play out the way Riley wanted it to.

"I just worked a 12-hour shift and I want to see where this goes, m'kay?" Evelyn gestured to her backside. Evelyn knew just what she was doing, but she needed to do it; she'd seen the way Maya had looked at him and she wouldn't let Riley ruin something like that because of a secret whatever it was they had going on.

"M'kay," her best friend sighed, giving into Evelyn and moving back over to where Maya was standing.

Riley was just happy that she'd had the chance to meet Lucas so the fact that Evelyn had interrupted them didn't impact her mood at all. Maya, however, nervously bit her lip as she watched Lucas talk to Evelyn. Evelyn was one of the few people, who knew how to read her. And that was dangerous.

"That was great."

"You're welcome," Maya replied, dismissively. She tried to read Evelyn's lips, but she heard her name and that was enough for her.

"What if that was the best moment of my life? What if nothing ever happens for me again?" her best friend panicked.

Maya grinned again, Evelyn was not going to get her chance to talk to him for long because Riley was flying off towards Lucas again before they'd said another word. She landed in Evelyn's lap this time, who then proceeded to hand her over to Lucas. Riley latched onto Lucas, she had a glint in her eye that Maya had seen one too many times before. Riley had a crush and Maya didn't like it. Even if she had been the one to cause it.

 **01**

Riley walked ahead of Maya who was lost in thought. Lucas had come off at the same spot as them. She'd lost sight of him after that, but she could have sworn she saw him through the window of the Principal Yancy's office. She hoped they hadn't followed them here because if he really was signing up for her school, then people were sure to start talking back home.

"You're late to your father's class," Cory Matthews commented, glaring at Maya as Riley waited for her to make an excuse. He'd been annoyed with her a lot recently and she didn't know why.

"Oh don't worry Mr Matthews, you wrote her a note," Maya supplied, fishing a note out of her back pocket and handing it over to Riley.

"I did?"

He did.

"You did," Riley told her father handing him the note.

 _Riley's late, deal with it._ CMatthews.

"You got my signature down pretty good this time."

"Oh, it was easy. You write like a girl," Maya told him. She wanted him to be back to the easy going Mr Matthews she knew him to be, not the glaring parent stood in front of her.

The two girls sat down in their seats at the front of the classroom. It didn't take long for Maya to notice the two empty seats in the classroom, no doubt for late or transfer students. _Please don't let one of them be him._ Though she knew it was highly likely one would be. Especially if a certain subway boy had his say in the matter.

"Okay," Matthews began teaching. "Let me get back to jamming some learning in your heads. The Civil War."

"The Civil Bore!" the blonde cut in.

"Thank you, future Mini-Mart employee of the month."

"Would I be making more more than you?" She smirked as he paused, seemingly agreeing with her statement. At least, he wasn't glaring anymore.

"The Civil War!" he repeated. No one answered. "Anybody?"

"A war we fought against ourselves," Riley finally said.

"What you actually studied it?" Cory asked his daughter. It wouldn't surprise anyone if she had. Riley was always more studious than the other students, Maya in particular.

"No, I'm actually living it." She bashed her head against her desk. Matthews stared worriedly at his daughter.

"People, people, are we here to learn or not?" The weird, little genius exclaimed clapping his hands together. Maya was glad that Farkle had been put in their class this year.

"What do you mean Farkle?" Cory asked him, looking up from his daughter.

"I've been in love with Riley since first grade," Farkle explained to Matthews. "But I'm also equally in love with Maya. so you might say the greatest mystery of the universe is who's going to be the first Mrs Farkle."

Maya turned around to face him. "You don't want this."

"Bring it on," He grinned at her. Both of them knew they were only joking with each other. They'd done so since Maya joined their elementary school in the middle of the school year and Farkle became her first friend. Mostly because he was obsessed with her.

She nearly grinned back but stopped herself as Riley spoke up. "I always thought he'd wind up with back-of-the-class Brenda."

They all turned around and Maya wished she could apologise for her best friend's words. She knew it wouldn't mean anything coming from her, though, it would have to come from Riley. She'd talk to him later.

"Yuck!" Farkle muttered in disgust. Maya couldn't help but agree with him. Brenda wasn't the prettiest flower in the garden, nor was she the smartest despite the common misconception due to her glasses.

"Actually," Cory cut in. "The great mystery of the universe is how you can love two women the same who couldn't possibly be more different."

They weren't that different, they wouldn't be best friends if they were. Maya wondered if they seemed like opposites to the rest of the world. Riley glanced over at her, she didn't think they were so different either.

"We're not so different."

Maya smiled at her best friend when Riley said that. The brunettes face lit up when Maya reached across and held her hand briefly.

Farkle raised his hand and took over the class like he always did. Matthews sat in the seat Farkle previously occupied and handed a note to Maya as inconspicuously as possible. Farkle slammed his hands down on Riley's desk first. "The way I see it is, Riley is the sun. Warm and bright and lights my whole day up. Maya is the night. Dark and mysterious. The night has always been a mystery to me. But you can't have one without the other. How can I love these two different women? How can I not?" He bowed. "Thank you, I am Farkle!"

Riley and Maya looked at each other and giggled in unison when Farkle passed them. Having grown up with Farkle, they were used to his antics.

Matthews stood again, "So we were indeed trying to find out who we were as a people." He flipped the sign on his desk back to Mr Matthews. "Who am I? What should I be? History shows that bad things happen when you don't know who you are."

Maya froze when she heard the back door open. She turned around as Lucas walked into the classroom. She couldn't stop herself from staring, with his perfect green eyes and his perfect face. She knew it would be him, but she didn't want it to be.

"Who are you? I don't know who you are," Matthews asked him worriedly. Riley leaned over and whispered something in Maya's ear, but she wasn't paying attention.

"I'm Lucas Friar, from Austin, Texas," Lucas walked to the front of the classroom and gave Matthews his transfer slip.

"Oh, new student Mr Friar?"

"Yes, sir."

"Great, you're just in time for today's assignment. Have a seat," Cory told him. Lucas' hand touched Riley's shoulder accidentally as he moved to the seat behind her. She turned around in her seat and stared at him with a giddy smile on her face.

Cory's eyes met Maya's and he raised an eyebrow. She shrugged in reply. She had no idea what to say to the brunette's father, she couldn't very well tell him his daughter had a crush on the new guy, could she? No, she couldn't. He sighed, moving Riley's head back to face the front. He didn't notice the look of relief on Lucas' face after he did that, but Farkle sure did.

"So, I'd like you guys to open your books to page forty-eight," Cory began, attempting to focus on teaching. They all turned to that page. "Now I'd like you to turn to page one. Now, I'd like you to read from page one to forty-eight."

The class groaned and he set their assignment as a three-page essay on anything, anything at all. As long as they would fight for it.

Maya sighed, there were a ton of things she could write about. She'd been fighting battles her entire life. She just didn't have the time this week. The assignment would have to be in by their next history lesson which was tomorrow for them. She couldn't write three pages' worth of work on a Monday night, not unless she wanted to stay up till three in the morning.

The old Maya wouldn't care about homework, there was no point to school anyway, but the new Maya knew better. She'd just have to ask for extra time, unless — unless she could get out of it all together. She remembered stories Topanga used to tell her when she'd stay over if her mom was at work too late. Cory once started a homework rebellion, and that was just what she'd do.

She cleared her throat to attract Matthews' attention before she said what was on her mind. "That. I'd fight for no homework." There was no turning back. "I come here every day. Why can't you teach me everything I need to know while I'm here?"

"Woo!" Riley joined in, nudging her friend with her elbow. Cory looked at his daughter surprised. "Not woo." She sighed and bowed her head. Sometimes rebellion could only get so far.

Maya stood, she wasn't finished yet. This time, she was talking to the people. "He gets our days lets take back our nights. No homework, more freedom! Who's with me?" The class remained silent, but Darby was itching to join in. Maya knew she had a rebellious streak in her somewhere. Maya raised her eyebrow at the other blonde, daring her to join in and Darby couldn't say no to a dare.

"No homework, more freedom!" she chanted with Maya. The others picked up the chant, all except from the three Maya wanted to back her up. She remembered her best friend's words from that morning, 'I want to be exactly like you' and she knew a challenge was upon Riley. She wanted to be like Maya, then she'd have to take a lesson from the old Maya. Speak first, ask questions later.

"This is it, kid. Do you want to be like me? Stand up," Maya told Riley, letting the rest of the class carry on chanting. "No homework, more freedom! No homework, more freedom!"

She waited by the back door until her best friend followed her out, chanting as much as she was. They linked arms and Maya felt proud of her friend for overcoming her father's wishes even though she knew she'd get hassled for it later by more than one person. Lucas was left with Cory, but Maya doubted he'd do anything. It wasn't as though he knew about their past, he couldn't.

 **01**

Maya had expected that having Lucas as her classmate to be difficult, but she didn't expect him to ignore her. He knew her too well; knew she'd get annoyed by this. He knew she'd do something as stupid as what she did between classes just because she was annoyed with him. And he would get the upper hand on her, as he always had because she couldn't play him like her great grandmother's guitar. He would always know.

She cornered him, between English and science classes, in the janitor's closet. She wasn't looking forward to science anyway and she knew Lucas would just ignore her again. He wouldn't get another chance to ignore her, he'd managed to get her annoyed enough for her to risk this.

"You've got five seconds and an awful lot of explaining to do, Sundance, start talking," she demanded, poking his chest with her finger.

He didn't talk, what guy would, when stuck in a janitor's closet with someone of the opposite sex. He took the opportunity of their lack of distance to lean down and capture her lips with his, reversing their roles until she was pressed against the door.

"Four." She wasn't really counting.

"I've missed you, Pancakes," he whispered before closing the gap once again.

She reached her hands behind his neck and she knew they'd both be missing science. Maya felt that maybe she shouldn't have acted so eager to kiss him back, she was supposed to be angry at him, after all. Angry at what, she didn't remember for long. She couldn't think straight.

 **01**

 **A/N: Thank you, those who have already favourited the prologue, and thanks to that special person that have already added this to the _Cowboy and the Clutterbucket_ community archive! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I'm mostly done with the next one so keep your eye's peeled for that. I've tried to make my chapters longer than I would usually and I hope it's working. If you have any questions PM me or review and I'll get back to you within 24 hours. Thanks again.**

 **If anyone wants to beta read this I'd be grateful. Also thanks to AvalonXNaruto for beta reading this particular chapter.**

 **BB**


	3. Chapter 2: Homework Rebellion

01

When Maya got home that night, her grandmother was the first to know something was up. She, despite seeming frail and old, had her granddaughter spilling all that she had done that day. They had always been closer than Maya and her mother. When she neared the part where she rebelled, she remembered the note Matthews had given her.

 _What happened over the summer?_

Maya wasn't sure how he knew. She wasn't sure what he knew if he knew much at all. He couldn't know about Lucas, she reasoned, it just wasn't possible. So — so — so he must be talking about something else, some other difference in Maya's life. Some abnormality. Though what really was normality when it came to Maya. Her home life was constantly changing, she supposed the only thing that defined who she was was her best friend. She supposed he was talking about her friendship with Riley, a change to their dynamic. Maya knew there was one. Like a gaping hole in their relationship, Maya was hiding a secret from her best friend. And Cory knew it too.

Maya didn't want it to cause more trouble than it already had. At least this note didn't demand an answer like the last one did. Riley had found that answer and let's just say she wasn't happy. Still, she couldn't help but think this would lead to something terrible whether she answered or not. It was a secret she didn't want her best friend to find out, and telling her father didn't seem the wisest of choice.

"Gammy, do you think I'm doing the right thing?" Maya asked her grandmother. They were laying on Gammy's bed, wrapped in her shawl. Maya always sought her grandmother's embrace when she was troubled.

"Penelope, dear, that's not just up to you to answer. What you have to ask yourself is, is he worth lying about?" She answered, stroking her granddaughter's hair. "Now, I know you know the answer to that, dear, just be careful around Ri-Ri, okay?" She had always had a soft spot for the blonde's best friend.

Maya knew the answer, but it didn't quite help her mind which was working a hundred miles a minute. She thought that maybe, after relaying the day's events to her grandmother, she'd have a bit of peace of mind. It wasn't until her breathing grew heavy that Maya removed herself from her grandmother's grip and pulled the duvet up to her neck. Maya, as she had done most nights, went around the apartment turning the lights off all except the small light by the front door. Her mother worked till the early hours almost every day, her daughter was used to taking care of the house without her. The blonde sighed as she walked to her room, she wanted to sleep, and soon.

"Howdy," Lucas called from his position at the end of her bed. She ignored him, turning away and pulling her shirt above her head to change into her night shirt.

"You're an idiot, you know that right?" She turned around, armed with her shirt. "You could have gotten yourself killed coming here!"

"But I didn't," he told her. He stood up as she approached the bed, capturing her small frame in his arms.

"But you could have!" she complained, although she didn't resist his arms. "I don't know what's going to happen anymore, and I don't want you getting hurt because of me."

"Penelope..." Lucas began, pulling back slightly to look at her.

"Don't call me that."

"It's not my family that's the dangerous one. And you have to realise that sooner or later they're all going to find out about us, Penelope," he said. Maya smiled when he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I know that Huckleberry, I do, but we've got two and a half years before that. Let us just be safe for now," she sighed. "I just want to be safe."

"Me too, short stack, me too."

 _"That's a lot of food you've got there, Miss Penelope. You not going to the dance?" Mr Babineaux asked Maya as he rang up the items._

 _"Just enjoying a quiet night in Sir," she replied, grabbing her bags of food and making for the door. She was just about to reach for the handle when it swung open and knocked her carefully balanced food bags out of her hands. "Watch it!"_

 _"Hey, dad! Come help this girl!" Isaiah Babineaux shouted to his father as he walked into the back. Maya sighed; the food had spilled over the floor, some splitting open upon impact._

 _"It's okay, Mr Babineaux, I'll help her with these." Maya knew that voice. She looked up and saw the face of a huckleberry. "Sorry about Zay, he's - yeah - he's better once you get to know him."_

 _"Thank you, Mr Friar._ _I've met Isaiah before, let's just say his reputation precedes him," she replied, standing up and taking one of the reassembled bags from Lucas._

 _"Anytime, ma'am. I'll walk you back." He followed her outside the shop and walked with her in silence until they reached her home. "Is Jemimah inside?"_

 _"Samuel's taken her to some restaurant, they're not going to be back for another couple of hours," she told him, unlocking her front door. He grinned when she dropped the bags next to the kitchen door and dragged him into the living room._

 _"And that's supposed to mean something, Miss Clutterbucket?" He chuckled, letting her push him onto the couch._

 _"Well, that depends," she answered, straddling his hips. "Does a certain Huckleberry still remember what happened last time they were out?"_

 _"I remember pancakes, but this doesn't feel like it's leading to a stack of pancakes."_

 _She lowered her head until her lips were inches from his own. "Maybe later," she muttered before pressing her mouth against him._

 _They hadn't seen each other since last summer when Maya had visited. The summer was the only time that Maya actually spent with her relatives in Texas. Lucas had known her growing up, living in the neighbouring ranch and going to the same school as her._

 _However, their friendship did not come easy. Maya's grandparents were opposed to certain traditions in the Friar household and often separated the two when they saw them talking. Running from family members became commonplace with the duo._

 _Lucas was willing to continue to hide from Maya's family as long as he could see the smile on her face every now and again. Her happiness was the most important thing to him. Between secret horse rides and movie marathons in his room, Maya was her happiest when she was away from the pressures of her family._

 _They'd only been together for a year, and yet, Maya felt as though nothing had changed the dynamics of their relationship. Other than the kissing, of course._

"Did you want to stay for the night?" Maya called out into the bedroom down the hall as she brushed her teeth. Lucas moved to stand beside her.

"If I can." Maya jumped at the sound of his voice beside her.

"Stop scaring me like that!" She slapped his chest absentmindedly before spitting out her toothpaste.

"I'll stop when you do," he told her, accepting the toothbrush she held out to him to brush his own teeth.

"Yeah, I'm sure you would, Huckleberry." She grinned, waiting for him to finish up.

"So, explain to me the situation with our history class," Lucas said as they walked back to her room.

"Riley's dad is the teacher." Maya sighed, sitting with him on her bed. "He's always given us more freedom to talk than the other students."

"And the turtleneck?" he asked, pointing to a photo that rested on her bedside table.

"That's Farkle, the one that sits behind me. He has this strange quality to always knowing everything, so don't underestimate the Farkle. He's in most of my classes, probably in yours too. The rest of the class are quiet, but Sarah and Darby are nice enough once you make the effort to know them."

Lucas seemed satisfied with the answer and said goodnight to Maya before falling asleep with her in his arms.

01

"Aw, look at him looking for a place to sit," Maya grinned at Riley, nodding towards Lucas across the other side of the cafeteria.

"Do you think he'll sit with us?" the brunette asked her. Maya hadn't been concentrating on her as she moved over to give Lucas the seat between them because. Farkle had seen the seat and slid into it before Maya could tell Lucas to sit next to them. She sent an apologetic look to him as he wandered back over to the other side of the cafeteria to find a seat.

"Ladies."

"Farkle," the girls replied in unison.

"Interesting lunch dilemma," he began, looking between the two girls. "Sloppy joe, or chicken pot pie? Or sloppy joe, or chicken pot pie?" It wasn't hard to guess who he was referring to.

"Is that all you got?" Maya asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"That's it. Same time tomorrow," he said, leaving with his tray. Farkle was quite shy unless you really knew him, and she didn't know him as well as Riley did.

"There he is!" Maya told her best friend, noticing Lucas standing awkwardly by the table adjacent to them. Maya wanted Lucas to sit next to them. He would always sit with her at school when they were younger, yet Maya didn't want to seem as though she knew Lucas. "Invite him to sit down!"

"With words?" Riley asked, shyly sliding herself into the seat next to Maya.

"You're ready for this." The blonde patted her friend on the shoulder. Maya needed her to be ready for this.

"What do I say?"

"Hey Lucas, looking for somebody special?" Maya suggested, grinning when she saw Lucas was staring at her.

"I can't say that!" Right, this was Riley. She wouldn't do anything _that_ forward.

"Hey Lucas, looking for somebody?" she tried again.

"Too forward."

"Hey Lucas," Maya gave in, surely Riley could handle that.

"Like we're on a first-name basis?" The brunette shook her head.

"Hey," Maya exclaimed. She didn't think Riley would ever get the courage to talk to him, so when she saw Lucas make his way over to them she started the conversation.

"Hey," Riley repeated, finally comfortable with the words. Maya was grateful when Lucas sat next to Riley.

"Hey, yourself," he replied. Riley turned to face him slowly. He smiled at her after Maya shifted her attention to her best friend.

"Hi, you're sitting there," she stated, awkwardly.

"Is that okay?" Ever the gentleman, Friar.

Riley gave an awkward thumbs up to him before telling him, "Can you excuse me for just one second?"

She turned to Maya and grabbed her hands in excitement. Lucas smirked at his girlfriend over the tween's shoulder. The three of them composed themselves when they turned round to see Cory hovering over Lucas' shoulder.

"How you doing?" Matthews asked them, but the grip he had on Lucas' shoulder told Maya he was being anything but friendly.

"Dad, you have a choice here. You can either understand that this is just a boy talking to me in the cafeteria..." she trailed off noticing her dad's expression.

"I'm going to do whatever you say next."

"But this is so innocent!" she told him. It was innocent, Maya would give her that, but the whole idea of boys was too much for the overprotective father that was Cory Matthews.

"Honey, fathers don't see anything as innocent. We see it as... What's the opposite of innocent?" he asked, leaning across Lucas. Matthews arm almost had him trapped to the chair, almost.

"Right here!" Maya knew she shouldn't have pushed her boundaries anymore, but she couldn't help raising her hand. Cory grimaced and Lucas grinned briefly, but his attention wasn't on her long.

"Please don't embarrass me," Riley pleaded with her father, shaking her head.

"I'm just going to talk to Mr. Friar about geography," he stated, grabbing Lucas' shoulder again. "You know; I've been to a lot of places. Never been to Texas, though. What part of Texas is the closest to Mexico?"

"That'd be El Paso, sir."

"Great! Let's go right now," Cory told him, grabbing the back of his chair and dragging him into the hallway. Lucas waved at the girls on his way out. Maya took advantage of his leftover sloppy joe and pulled his tray closer to her. Not soon enough to take a bite, however, had Riley chosen to drag the girl from the table.

"Hey!" Maya exclaimed, watching what could have been her dinner get spilled over the table. Sighing, she picked up Lucas' and her trays and gave them to the dinner lady on hand, muttering her thanks.

"So, did you do the homework?" Riley asked the blonde, handing her tray over.

"No I didn't do the homework," she replied, not that she could have tried. Lucas was too much of a distraction for homework on the first day back. "The question on everybody's kiwi lips is: did you do the homework?"

"No, I'm one of the founding members of the Homework Rebellion. You think I did my homework?" She was trying to sound tough.

Maya didn't want Riley to try to be her.

"I think you did mine too," she told her, turning to face her.

Riley crumbled as a smile broke out across her face, "I did, I did and I really liked it."

Of course, she had.

It wasn't as though she had asked her to do it, in fact, Maya was annoyed at her for her lack of trust in the blonde. She could have handled the homework had her mother been there with dinner on the table, or money to buy paper and pens. "Riley, don't save me." If Maya was going to do her homework it would be her work, not her friend's.

"What?" Riley asked her, confused.

"Let me be me," Maya told her. Riley stared at her until she grabbed the back of Farkle's shirt and he stopped on his way to the dinner lady to hand his own tray in too. "Oh, you got two desserts?" Maya was really missing her extra sloppy joe.

"Angel's food cake..." Riley noticed.

"And Devil's food cake," the shorter of the two caught on. "Let me guess who's who."

"Hey, Farkle's just hungry," he replied, shoving a piece of Devil's food cake in his mouth. Maya smirked at him. "Not everything is about you."

Riley raised her eyebrows at him. She didn't believe a word he'd just said. Sometimes Riley acted older than she was supposed to in Maya's eyes. Cory wouldn't like that.

01

Lucas walked into History class next period. Thankfully, Matthews hadn't scared him off too much.

Riley turned around in her chair to face him. "Hi, I'm glad you're back."

"Hi, me too," he smiled at her. Cory ran between their desks interrupting them.

"Hi," Cory mimicked him, obviously less than appreciative of Riley's apparent crush. "Apparently you have a better sense of direction than I anticipated."

He pointed between his daughter and Lucas, he sounded angry. Lucas was smiling though so Maya took it that their talk went well enough not to ruin anything. Cory drew a line across his neck with his finger as soon as Riley faced away from them. Lucas barely moved an inch.

"You're a really good looking guy," Matthews told him if only just to keep up appearances. Lucas narrowed his eyes out of annoyance and Matthews gave in starting class up again. "Okay, so, today we're going to find out if anybody here believes in something so strongly, they'd fight for it. Maya."

"Yes, sir," she answered, looking away from Lucas.

"Present your homework," he asked of her.

Oh.

"Can't do that, sir."

"Why not?"

"Didn't do my homework, sir."

"Why not?"

Because she was too distracted by a certain Huckleberry to remember that the pile on her desk was due in that day. She couldn't say that, of course.

"That's what I'm fighting against, sir," she replied with instead, smiling up at her tormentor.

"Oh, this could go on for a while," Farkle stated. Maya heard his feet come to rest on his desk behind her and she heard a faint mumbling of his name passing his lips, as though he was sleeping. Laughing, she turned to see him with a sleep mask over his head.

"I didn't do my homework either," Riley stated, looking at her father.

"Oh, really?" Matthews asked her. Maya couldn't tell whether he believed her or not and that spelled trouble for her.

"Yeah," Riley continued and Maya whipped her head round to face her. Her eyes showed panic, begging her not to do this. She wasn't looking at her, though. "We're the same now. I don't believe in homework."

"Guess what, Riley? That doesn't make you the same as Maya at all."

Maya sighed in relief when she heard the fatherly tone to his voice. He wouldn't blame her for this one. At least, she could continue with my façade for the time being. Raising her hand, Maya continued, "I have something to say."

Cory looked at her. "Wow, I don't know what to do. I've never seen this before. The floor's yours, Ms Hart." He gestured to the space beside him.

She stood, half tempted to leave the room, but the other half knew she needed to stay the Maya that Riley wouldn't want to be. The Maya that got into trouble. "Get up, Farkle." She pulled on his sleep mask, grinning as she felt him grab her hand and place a note into her palm. "You're going to want to be awake for this."

"Is it our honeymoon?" The genius joked, standing as well.

"No, you missed that, honey. Now, it's time to hand in our essays," she laughed, patting his cheek. He raised his hand as well and she knew he'd complain about her going first, he always did.

"Oh, Farkle goes first, Farkle always goes first!" he stated, a blush gracing his cheeks at Maya's actions, then he left the room.

After he'd left, she continued with her presentation. "Alright, everybody who did their homework, put it on your desk."

They all did as she'd asked. Maya nearly laughed at their naivety, but she'd already begun collecting them in and they had to trust her, for now at least.

"Careful there, Ms Hart," Cory told her, leaning back on his desk. He trusted her too, mostly.

Riley looked up at her as she passed her, "Are you sure about this?" Maya could tell she was feeling guilty about not getting out her homework. Though if her plan worked she'd be the only one not angry with her at the end of this.

"I got this," Maya reassured her, picking up Lucas' paper. She frowned when she saw the topic he'd chosen to comment on. _Love_. The idiot. Farkle came into the classroom with his elaborate project which distracted her from hearing Riley's reply. It was all out, coloured with the American red, white and blue, and complete with sparklers.

"The branding of Atlanta led to the end of the Civil War, and of peace. I believe that peace is worth fighting for," he began, interrupting my presentation. Maya needed to get rid of Lucas paper. He could write it for any other teacher. Just not Matthews. Grinning, she reached across Farkle and took a sparkler from his display. He protested which only caused her to take another. "And there goes Virginia."

Surprisingly, he'd actually put a lot of work into our first project of the semester. Maya, however, had not and she was paying for it. "The burning of the homework." She walked to the front of the classroom and stood on her empty seat. "Led to the end of the homework rebellion because there was no more homework."

Ever so slowly, Maya raised the sparkler to the homework, eyeing Matthews who she knew would jump to save them. He did, telling her he got what she was trying to say. He hadn't realised Maya wasn't fighting for her presentation anymore. She was getting rid of that paper. After lifting the sparkler over her head, she began her chanting again.

Then the sprinklers went off.

Everyone was soaked, Maya included. And suddenly she was regretting wearing a see-through top under her jacket.

"Okay, so those work," she shouted through the sounds of the alarm. Matthews glared at her, the ruined homework still in his hand now being crumpled by the fist he was making. Yup, he was going to kill her. She was a dead woman. Lucas wouldn't be dead though and maybe that was worth it. Riley was safe too. They could live their lives, maybe he'd even fall for her if Maya was gone. She'd move on too.

"Is this still part of your presentation? Or is this actually going on?" Farkle asked her, shaking her out of the shock she'd put herself under. Maya began to move, grabbing Lucas hoodie from the back of his chair and holding it above herself as a protection from the rain. Everybody moved at the same time and she felt Lucas huddle with her under his jacket. Riley was going to be soaked so Maya pulled her into her place, not that it'd help much anymore. Maya's own jacket couldn't be removed for fear of showing everyone her bra, so she did what everyone else had already done, bar Lucas and Riley, and ran.

Mr Babineaux heard this comment for use later.

01

A/N: Thank you, everyone, who read, and voted for this, it has been a real challenge for me to actually get up the nerve to publish something that has been brewing for so long actually. If anyone's got any ideas, everything helps. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments.

Did anyone expect the Lucaya backstory? Don't worry it's all planned out... how you find out all of it is a mystery... maybe.

*Edit, this chapter has been updated within the past 24 hours, please take the tie to read it again as a major plot point has been changed. Also, it is now in third person instead of first as I can write that easier.

BB


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